In Reopening Economy, Workers Asked to Choose Between Health and a Paycheck

In the months since the coronavirus pandemic hit the United States, unemployment claims have continued to skyrocket to the worst rates since the Great Depression. As talk of re-engaging the economy gets louder and states begin to re-open, workers are being asked to return to the job during a time of profound uncertainty.

“There is not an afraid-of-dying clause for unemployment.” — Emily Stewart, Vox

Wage-earners across America are being asked to decide between a paycheck and their health.

Listen: How the coronavirus pandemic is exacerbating income inequality and leaving many workers feeling trapped. 

Guests

Emily Stewart, a reporter with Vox, says part of the problem right now is that essential workers would rather be on unemployment, as benefits expanded for the COVID-19 response are far more generous than traditional insurance. These workers also fear for their health as they report to jobs that are often lower-wage and don’t include health benefits. Stewart says essential workers, however, are nervous to quit their jobs, worried that they won’t be able to apply for insurance because their absence of work is technically voluntary.

“There is not an afraid-of-dying clause for unemployment,” says Stewart of this bind many essential workers find themselves in.

Jim Tankersley, a reporter covering economics and tax policy for The New York Times, says America entered the pandemic with unprecedented levels of inequality and that the health crisis is only exacerbating those socioeconomic divisions. He says these disparities fall along racial lines as well. “White college educated workers are far more likely to be able to work from home,” says Tankersley.

“It is impossible to separate the health from the economics here. Lifting restrictions means sending people back out into the world before they are ready. We are exposing these workers to economic risk too.” — Jim Tankersley, New York Times

Economists almost unanimously say that robust testing is the answer to re-opening the economy, an operation Tankersley says may not be ready until the end of summer.

“It is impossible to separate the health from the economics here. Lifting restrictions means sending people back out into the world before they are ready. We are exposing these workers to economic risk too,” says Tankersley.